The Erie Lackawanna Historical Society collection (ELHS) consists of materials collected by members of the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society and other interested parties and donated to the organization.

This collection is of interest to scholars researching the Erie Lackawanna Railroad (EL), formed in 1960 by the merger of the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W), a class I railroad that ran from Hoboken, NJ to Buffalo, NY and the Erie Railroad, a Class I railroad that ran from Jersey City, NJ to Chicago, IL, and its predecessor companies.

The material is grouped into fourteen series.All of the series are further divided into various sub-series and units.In general the collection is catalogued on the folder level. Items in Series F-H are catalogued at the item level.

Erie Lackawanna Historical Society Time Line

1971 -- Hosted by Joe Slanser, eight modelers of the Erie, DL&W and EL who had met through advertisements in Railroad Model Craftsmen, gather at Marion, Ohio, to share information about their common interests.They included Larry DeYoung, Ralph Fredenburg, John and David Gould, Tony Horn, Ed Kelsey, and Joe Slanser.

1972 -- Led by Tony Horn, and hosted by Railroad Model Craftsmen publisher Hal Carstens, the modelers meet again, this time in Ramsey, NJ.The meetings become an annual event (with the exception of one year).Two outcomes of the Ramsey meeting are the selection of a name for the group, the Erie Railfan Society and the decision to publish a journal, called Erie Railfan.The first editor and the first formal leader of the group is Roger Rasor, a designer in the packaging industry.

1974 - 1980 -- Preston Cook, Jr., and later Dennis Mead, serve as general chairmen, the leaders of the still informal group.Larry DeYoung becomes membership chairman.

1980 -- Larry DeYoung, Joe Lofland, and Dave McWherter file papers to incorporate the group as the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society, a Pennsylvania non-profit, with DeYoung as president and chairman of the board of directors, and McWherter as secretary-treasurer. Joe Lofland is vice-president and membership chairman. Preston Cook, Bob Hannon, Roger Rasor, and Harold Werthwein fill out the board of directors. Rasor continues to edit the principal publication, renamed The Diamond to reflect the monogram of the Erie Lackawanna and its predecessor, the Erie. DeYoung edits the newsletter, renamed the Extra Board.

1981 -- The Internal Revenue Service approves 501(c)3 status for the ELHS. Wilson Jones takes over the editor's chair at the Extra Board, with Bob Hannon serving as assistant editor.

1988 -- With the Society experiencing financial difficulty, Larry DeYoung resigns as president, staying on as secretary. Schuyler Larrabee joins the board in the place of Preston Cook, and is elected chairman and president. Dave Olesen becomes membership vice-president. The Society engages in its first formal archives-related efforts in conjunction with the Crawford County Historical Society in Meadville, PA, jointly funding the preservation of Erie Lackawanna records endangered by the sale of a Conrail structure in that city.

1989 -- Rich Behrendt begins editing The Diamond, and joins the board in place of Roger Rasor.

1990 -- The ELHS board states formally that the development of an archives facility to house the growing collection and encourage further donations is a priority of the Society.

1992 -- The ELHS produces its first model, an HO scale Erie Railroad twin hopper car, and embarks on what has become a long line of models and books.

1993 -- Then University of Akron Professor of History H. Roger Grant completes his book, Erie Lackawanna: Death of an American Railroad, 1938 - 1992. With its final liquidation imminent, the Erie Lackawanna Liquidating Trust donates its corporate archives to The University of Akron, at Grant's suggestion. Professor Grant also encourages the ELHS to consider placing its growing collection with The University of Akron Archival Services.

1995 -- Bob Rose assumes the position of membership chairman and replaces Dave Olesen as vice president and board member. The Erie Lackawanna Historical Society, Inc., and the University of Akron sign a ten-year repository agreement covering the placement of the archives with the University Archives. The University agrees to provide proper archival storage and supplies for the collection with the Society retaining ownership. The signatories create an archives steering committee to oversee the collection. The committee consists of representatives of both organizations, Rich Behrendt, Michael Connor, and Larry DeYoung for the ELHS, and John V. Miller, Director of Archival Services, and Professor Grant for the University. Soon thereafter the ELHS moves the first of its materials from DeYoung's home to the University of Akron Archives, thereby averting the collapse of one attic and one marriage.

1997 -- Professor Grant leaves the University of Akron and the archives steering committee.

1998 -- Nate Clark joins the archives steering committee.

2001 -- At its thirtieth birthday annual meeting in Marion, OH, the ELHS announces substantial progress in its effort to catalog its archival collection at the University of Akron. To commemorate the location as the origin of the Society, the ELHS donates a plaque to the Marion Union Station Association for mounting on the building. University of Akron Archival Services director John V. Miller and graduate assistant and ELHS Collection Curator Scott E. Randolph are awarded the ELHS Brass Diamond Award for their contributions to the Society's success in accomplishing its mission. The board agrees to appoint Mike Schafer of Andover Junction Publications as editor of The Diamond.

2002 -- Scott Randolph completes his master's degree and remains on the archives steering committee as assistant archivist and curator. Mike Schafer produces his first edition of The Diamond. Bob Hannon resigns from the board, but continues to edit the Extra Board. Tim Costello assumes the vacant position on the board of directors. Membership stands at about 1200, slightly above the average since the late 1980's of about 1100.

2005 -- Harold Werthwein, after 25 years of dedicated service, resigns from the Board of Directors and is replaced by Paul Cappelloni.

2006 -- Tim Costello resigns from the Board of Directors and is replaced by Jay Held. After 11 years of service, Bob Rose resigns from the Board of Directors and is replaced by Michael Connor. Schuyler Larrabee steps down as ELHS president after 18 years and is replaced by Paul Cappelloni. Mr. Larrabee remains on the Board of Directors.

2007 -- The ELHS Archives collection is on the move. The collection has been removed from the University of Akron and moved to a temporary facility where it is undergoing an inventory process prior to being moved to a new, permanent home. Discussions are in progress with several potential host sites. Rich Behrendt resigns from the Board of Directors and is replaced by Joe Schveder.

2008 -- Cleveland State University is choosen as the new home for the ELHS Archives after evaluting several site including Steamtown National Historic Site. Larry DeYoung resigns from the Board of Directors and is replaced by Steve Twarogowski.

Chronology of the Erie Lackawanna and its major predecessors

1828: New York State votes a charter for the Ithaca and Owego Railroad to connect its namesake communities.

1831: The Paterson and Hudson River Railroad Company obtains a charter in New Jersey. It becomes the oldest component of the Erie when leased in 1854.

1832: The New York State Legislature grants a special charter to the New York and Erie Railroad to build a railroad wholly within the borders of the state. Both the state and the charter-holders envision a railroad running from the west bank of the Hudson River to Lake Erie.

1832: The Ligett's Gap Railroad incorporates in Pennsylvania to connect Slocum's Hollow in the Lackawanna Valley of the state with the Susquehanna River at Great Bend.

1835: In a ceremony at Deposit, New York, dignitaries turn the first shovel-full of earth in the construction of the New York and Erie Railroad Company. Nothing else happens for quite some time thereafter and it is 1841 before the first segment of the line opens for service.

1835: New Jersey grants a charter to the Morris and Essex Railroad (M&E). Later an important component of the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad, it does better than the Erie and opens a route from Newark to Orange a year later, with horses providing the propulsion.

1848: Starrucca Viaduct, designated a National Engineering Landmark in 2002, opens for service on the Erie main line just east of Susquehanna, PA.

1851: After many hurdles the original main line of the New York and Erie Railroad Company opens for through service between Piermont-on-Hudson and Dunkirk. That same year, NY&E superintendent Charles B. Minot sends the first train order by telegraph.

1851: The Ligett's Gap Railroad, by now called the Lackawanna and Western Railroad, opens for service between New Providence, PA (formerly Slocum's Hollow, and soon to be renamed Scranton) and a connection with the NY&E at Great Bend.

1853: Realizing the inefficiencies of its original eastern terminus, the railroad, through purchase and new construction, obtains a new terminus in New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City.

1853: The Delaware and Cobb's Gap Railroad merges with the Lackawanna and Western to form the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company.

1860-61: After the first of its four bankruptcies, the New York and Erie Railroad Company reorganizes as the Erie Railway Company.

1869: The Lackawanna leases the Morris and Essex in perpetuity, giving the DL&W control of its own route to the New Jersey waterfront.

1876: The Lackawanna system narrows its six-foot broad-gauge to the "standard gauge" of 4' 8-1/2" in one day.

1878: In a complicated foreclosure following notorious financial manipulation, the Erie Railway Company reorganizes as the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company.

1880: The New York, Lake Erie and Western reduces the six-foot broad-gauge of its core routes to standard gauge.

1883: NY&E affiliate Chicago and Atlantic Railway opens from Chicago to Marion, OH, completing the Jersey City to Chicago main line route structure of the Erie System.

1883: DL&W affiliate New York, Lackawanna and Western Railroad completes a line from Binghamton to Buffalo, NY. This link finished the Jersey City to Buffalo main line route structure of the Lackawanna System.

1895: In the foreclosure of its second consolidated mortgage, the NYLE&W becomes the Erie Railroad Company.

1901-1914: The Erie undertakes a massive program of physical improvements under the administration of Frederick Underwood and influence of railroad tycoon, E. H. Harriman.

1908: Lackawanna Station in Scranton opens for service. Conversion to a high-end hotel in the early 1980s retains this beautiful building for future generations.

1911: The "Lackawanna Cut-Off," across northern New Jersey, one of the largest privately funded construction projects of its time, opens for service. The Cut-Off provided a low-grade, high-speed route from the Delaware Water Gap to Netcong, NJ, saving nearly twelve miles (of forty) over the previous route.

1915: The Lackawanna's Tunkhannock Viaduct, the world's largest concrete bridge and now a National Engineering Landmark, opens for service as part of the Clark's Summit-Hallstead cutoff in Pennsylvania.

1925: The Otis P. and Mantis J. Van Sweringen, developers of Shaker Heights, OH, acquire stock control of the Erie. The brothers also held stock control of the Chesapeake and Ohio, Hocking Valley, Pere Marquette and Nickel Plate railroads. The ICC refused several attempts by the Van Sweringens to merge their railroads over the next decade.

1930: Thomas Edison pilots the first train on the Lackawanna's suburban electrification serving the commuter routes of the former M&E and connecting lines in New Jersey.

1938: The Erie files for its third bankruptcy.

1941: The debt-burdened and complicated Erie Railroad Company of 1895 is again reorganized and emerges with the same name, a reduced debt load and most significantly, a drastically simplified corporate structure.

1942: The Erie declares its first common stock dividend in seventy-six years.

1949: To honor the railroad's turn-of-the-century advertising symbol which symbolized its then-use of clean-burning anthracite coal, the DL&W upgrades the "Lackawanna Limited" and renames it "The Pheobe Snow." By the time of the inaugural run of the railroad's namesake passenger train, diesels provided the propulsion.

1951: Both relatively prosperous and quite publicity-savvy, The Erie and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroads celebrate respectively, the centennials of the completion of its original main line and of the first train over the entire route of the original Lackawanna and Western Railroad.

1953: The DL&W completes replacement of steam locomotives with diesel-electrics.

1954: The Erie completes replacement of steam locomotives with diesel-electrics.

1956-8: The Erie and DL&W begin coordinating services and routes. Coordination permitted the Erie to close its antiquated Jersey City terminal and both railroads to eliminate parallel and redundant lines in southern New York State.

1960: The DL&W merges into the Erie Railroad, which is renamed the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Company. It is significant to note that the DL&W never sought bankruptcy protection throughout its history.

1966: The "Phoebe Snow," a Lackawanna name applied after the merger to the former "Erie Limited" between Hoboken, NJ and Chicago, makes its last run.

1968: Renamed the Erie Lackawanna Railway, the EL becomes a subsidiary of Dereco, a new affiliate of the profitable Norfolk and Western Railway.

1970: The last Erie Lackawanna intercity passenger train, the "Lake Cities," makes its final run.

1972: Massive damage to company's Pennsylvania lines by Hurricane Agnes pushes the already weak company into bankruptcy. The EL never recovers.

1972 - 1975: While traffic and financial losses continue, the EL explores various options for recovery and reorganization.

1976: The EL turns over most of its operations to Conrail; a federally mandated and funded corporation intended as a remedy the "railroad problem" in the northeastern United States. The bankrupt corporation subsequently liquidates the vast majority of its retained lines and property.

1977 - 1991: The only Conrail component to do so, Erie Lackawanna, Inc., honors all of its accumulated private debts and back taxes in full with funds derived from the sale of retained assets and the government's payment of the negotiated value of properties conveyed to Conrail.

1992: Erie Lackawanna, Inc., concludes its liquidation and donates its corporate archives to the University of Akron.

1998: CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Corporation acquire Conrail and negotiate to split its operations a year later. Most surviving Erie Lackawanna lines go to NS.

Collection

In some cases entire sub-series and their constituent units are currently empty. They represent areas of information that the Society would like to include as the collection continues to grow.

Please note:

Series G is currently in processing with both sub-series 1 and sub-series 3 close to movement into the catalog and thus public access. Please note as well that Series H, J, K, L, M, and N are currently in accession status and thus not yet officially open to researchers. However, specific research requests for materials in these series are handled on a limited basis depending on staff availability, type of inquiry and status of materials. In some circumstances materials in these series is available to researchers by appointment and at the discretion of the Curator of the Collection or the Archivist of the Society.

The three stage archival process: an explanation of terms:

Accession: Materials in accession status have been received at the archives and processed into a rough database listing and moved to temporary storage pending further evaluation for conservation, special storage needs such as oversize boxes, collection of sufficient numbers of similar materials to justify movement into catalog or potential disposal. Generally speaking, materials in accession status are not open to the public because they are considered to be in processing. This is the necessary first step in archiving materials whereby staff gains intellectual control of the materials, in short where they learn what they have in collection.

Processing: A set of interrelated procedures whereby collection materials are evaluated for relevance (do the materials in question duplicate items already in the collection or fall outside the parameters of the society's collection management statement?), conservation (which includes physical repair, de-acidification or duplication), de-accessioning (separation from the collection through sale, donation, reciprocal trade, temporary loan or destruction), digitization (for conservation or storage purposes) and/or movement into the catalog.

Cataloging: The process of adding materials to the catalog listing, including, if necessary, the creation of new series listings, the input of manuscript records to the collection database including any special handling requirements and the physical movement of designated collection materials into permanent containers and storage locations. At the completion of this stage records are open to the researchers.

Series A: Sub-Collections is composed of several discrete collections donated intact to the society. This series contains twenty-one (21) boxes.

Sub-series 1: Contains the Perry M. Shoemaker Collection (PMSC). (4 boxes) The PMSC is of significant interest to those researching industry leaders during the 1950s and 1960s, railroads in Northeastern United States after World War II, the EL merger, Federal and state regulation of the railroad industry, the 1967 bankruptcy of the CNJ and the relationship between the state of New Jersey and the railroad industry. This collection is further divided into five units. [See separate Scope and Content prepared for PMSC]

Sub-series 2: Contains records of the Erie and Erie Lackawanna divisions of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT). (5 boxes). This sub-series is of interest to labor historians in general and to those interested specifically in twentieth century railroad labor and railroad labor unions and the relationship between management and the BRT on the Erie and EL.

Sub-series 3: Contains the papers of former Erie, Erie Lackawanna and Conrail executive M. F. Coffman (MFCC). (7 boxes) Mr. Coffman collected this material during a four-decade career in the railroad industry, working for the Erie, then the Erie Lackawanna and later for Conrail. The MFCC is of specific interest to those researching the history of the later years of the Erie, the entire history of the EL and the early years of Conrail. Other areas of interest include the development of statistical and quantitative methods of business and management analysis of railroad operations, finance and personnel. This sub-collection is further divided into eighteen units.

Sub-series 4: Contains the research notes of Erie, DL&W and EL authors, publishers and model builders. (5 boxes with a number of oversize items in map cases) Division into units by donor allows for further arrangement by sub-unit as warranted. Researchers should be aware that these files are not processed beyond placement in archival folders, so as to preserve the donor's arrangement of the records. Materials include correspondence, newspaper clippings, hand and typescript notes, locomotive and rolling stock rosters, commutation tickets, reference lists, Railfan and railroad history magazines, and much photocopied material from a variety of sources.

Unit 1: comprises a portion of the Bernard H. Sennstrom Collection. Sennstrom, an author and authority on a wide range of Erie Railroad subjects, was also a thorough researcher. The bulk of this unit consists of his raw field notes and research files on a variety of railroad and related subjects. The folder titles are as Sennstrom used them and have not been processed beyond re-foldering in order to preserve both his intellectual legacy and efficient approach to research.

Series B: ELHS Materials contains five (5) boxes of society correspondence, records, cataloging records and publication samples. Sub-series 1 is currently closed to the public because it contains personal information on past and present society members. Please contact the ELHS Archivist, Larry DeYoung, concerning access to closed records.

Sub-series 1: contains a portion of the society's records since inception as the Erie Railfan Society in 1971. Some of these files are closed to the public.

Sub-series 2: contains society publications including annual calendars, full-runs of The Diamond and the Erie Railfan and various publication production materials.

Sub-series 3: consists of Society Archivist records and Collection Curator's working papers relating the process of cataloging the collection. This sub-series is currently empty. There are no catalogued files.

Sub-series 4: Miscellaneous. This sub-series includes items such as Annual Convention programs.

Series C: Modeling/Historical Information and Railroadania consists of nine (9) boxes of railroad forms, prints and visual media related to railroads. This last item includes magazine and newspaper articles on the Erie Lackawanna and other railroads, modeling information and a small collection of railroad passes. This series is primarily of interest to collectors of railroadania and modelers. There are also approximately thirty (30) bound volumes unboxed, but stored on library shelving units.

Sub-series 1: contains samples of various railroad forms arranged by railroad and then further arranged alphabetically.

Sub-series 2: is comprised of a variety of materials including newspaper clippings, the journal Railroad History, railroad modeling and prototype enthusiast magazines and journals, autobiographical papers from railroad employees, and unpublished historical and roster manuscripts.

Sub-series 3: contains a selection of employee and industry courtesy trip and annual passes. Passes permitted holders to free travel on a railroad with certain restrictions.

Sub-series 4: miscellaneous items.

Series D:Railroad Publications comprises three sub-series further arranged by railroad and chronologically. This series contains nineteen (19) boxes.

Sub-series 1: contains Annual Reports to the ICC and to stockholders, arranged by railroad and then chronologically. ICC and stockholder reports are interfiled. This is further divided into units by railroad.

Sub-series 2: contains employee magazines, arranged by railroad, then title or edition and finally chronologically. This sub-series is further divided into units by railroad.

Sub-series 3: contains employee and public timetables arranged by railroad, then employee chronologically, and finally public chronologically. This sub-series is further divided into units by railroad. Not all timetables in the collection are currently cataloged.

Series E: General Railroad Items contains thirty-six (36) boxes of papers divided into ten sub-series. Six of the sub-series are further subdivided into various units.

Sub-Series 1: contains a selection of TheOfficial Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines (OG) and reprints of predecessor publications covering the years 1868 to 1977. (General coverage begins with 1910)

Sub-Series 2: consists of a small number of Railway Line Clearances from the twentieth century.

Sub-Series 3: comprises a variety of regularly published registers of railroad equipment including, The Condensed List of Closed, Open and Stock Cars, The Official Railway Equipment Register (ORER), The Official Register of Passenger Train Equipment, and The Official Intermodal Equipment Register. The chronological scope of the sub-series runs 1898 to 1976. The collection of ORER is the strongest.

Sub-Series 4: contains a selection of parts catalogs and equipment information for various pieces of locomotives, rolling stock and parts thereof.

Sub-Series 5: consists of a number of operating, repair and troubleshooting manuals for rolling stock, locomotives and parts thereof.

Sub-Series 6: comprises a selection of safety, operating rule and standard practices publications from the Association of American Railroads and convention proceedings of railroad organizations. Materials include AAR rulebooks and public safety comic books. There is some overlap between this sub-series and sub-series 7, as the AAR published collected editions of ICC rules and regulations. Researchers are encouraged to review holdings in each sub series.

Sub-Series 7: contains a variety of materials from the Interstate Commerce Commission, mostly tariff sheets, inspection rules and rulings. A selection of issues of the ICC Practitioners' Journal from the 1960s and 1970s rounds out this sub-series. There is some overlap between this sub-series and sub-series 7, as the AAR published collected editions of ICC rules and regulations. Researchers are encouraged to review holdings in both sub-series.

Sub-Series 8: consists of various educational and self-improvement materials for railroad employees. The bulk of this sub-series is comprised of various titles in railroad operations and maintenance published by the International Correspondence Schools and predecessor companies.

Sub-Series 9: contains a variety of materials related to railroad labor unions not specific to the EL or its predecessors. The largest part of this sub-series is a collection of bound volumes containing decisions made by the First Division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board in Chicago, IL dating mostly to the middle of the twentieth century. A consortium of railway labor unions arranged to have these decisions bound. The collected decisions are not complete as generally only decisions in favor of employees are included. Additional materials in the sub-series include union constitutions and membership newsletters.

Sub-series 10: is a miscellaneous sub-series. Some materials contained within this series include pocket guides to railway officials and the Railway Exchange Association.

Series F: Valuation Maps consists of over thirty-six hundred (3,600) individual valuation section map sheets. The collection contains nearly complete linen sets of both DL&W and Erie valuation maps, complete sets of several Erie railroad subsidiary railroads, and a scattering of sheets for other unaffiliated railroads.

Sub-series 4: Wilkes-Barre and Eastern Railroad, contains one hundred and thirty (130) total sheets. This sub-series includes a base-line 1918 set and a duplicate set noting revisions up to abandonment in 1939 disposition thereafter.

Sub-series 9: New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad, currently contains no sheets

Sub-series 10: Miscellaneous, contains eighteen (18) sheets at this time. The sub-series is further divided by unit for each railroad represented. Most of the maps in this series are from railroads from whom the Erie or DL&W held trackage rights, or crossed.

IL

IN

NJ

NY

PA

OH

Total by RR

DL&W

X

X

284

521

204

x

1009

Erie

x

1

195

1074

543

436

2249

EL

x

X

x

x

X

X

0

W-B&E

X

X

X

X

130

X

130

D&MM

X

X

X

3

X

X

3

B&H

X

X

X

10

X

X

10

NJ&NY

X

X

20

24

X

X

44

C&E

4

109

65

X

X

X

178

NYO&W

X

X

X

18

X

X

18

Total by state

4

110

499

1650

877

501

3641

Please refer to the article, Valuation Map Index, for more details about the The Valuation Act of 1913 and to search the index of valuation maps that we currently have in the collection.

Series G: Drawings and Other Maps contains approximately three thousand bound volumes, individual drawings and non-valuation maps. This series is divided into three sub-series.

Please note: Processing of this series is ongoing and incomplete.

Sub-series 1: is comprised of various bound volumes of commercially published nineteenth and early twentieth century state, county and city atlases and non-Valuation Act of 1913 railroad produced right-of-way and property maps. This sub-series is further divided into units. The first three units are currently empty. Unit 4 is arranged alphabetically by railroad and then chronologically. Unit 5 is arranged alphabetically and sequentially by country, state, county and city.

This series is subdivided both by railroad and 50 different coding categories and 114 sub-categories. Developed from the Interstate Commerce Commission's Roadway and Equipment Account Numbers used by the railroads to report additions/betterments and retirements from their valuations, these categories and sub-categories allow easy navigation through this immense sub-series. Most of the drawings in this sub-series are on waxed linen paper and come in a wide variety of sizes.

Series I: Dispatching consists of seventy-five (75) boxes, and is divided into two sub-series.

Sub-series 1: consists of seventy-two (72) double size boxes of train dispatcher sheets, arranged sequentially by railroad, by division and finally chronologically. Most of the individual sheets have dimensions of 74" wide and 18.5" tall. A number of the earlier Delaware Lackawanna and Western and branch line dispatcher sheets are smaller in both dimensions. Each sheet covers a single day on a single division or branch of each railroad. Typically each sheet contains the following information: record of weather, enginemen, conductors and crews on duty, time on duty for each crew, train numbers, engine numbers, cars, both loaded and empty, tonnage for each consist, list of mileposts and corresponding stations for the division, eastbound and westbound sides and memorandum of extraordinary or unusual occurrences. Dispatchers, using the operating rules of the railroad and the timetable managed all train movements on their division. Dispatcher's sheets were one of many tools used by dispatchers to record and track train movements. The holdings are strongest chronologically for the period 1960 - 1976 and geographically for the west end of the EL.